Bloomberg: US President Donald Trump gave Iran a two-day deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or have its power plants bombed.
The Iranian military countered that it will target infrastructure belonging to the US and the Israeli regime in the region if Iran’s fuel and energy infrastructure is attacked…
Trump threats, U.S. troop build-up raise specter of battle for Hormuz
A surge of additional U.S. forces to the Middle East and President Donald Trump’s threat to “obliterate” Iran’s energy infrastructure have set the stage for what U.S. and Israeli security officials increasingly see as the war’s possible endgame: a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz and key energy installations…
Brent crude, the global benchmark, climbed 1.69% to about $114.09 a barrel at the open. US crude rose 2% to $100.29. Goldman Sachs on Friday suggested that those high prices could last through 2027.
Trump this weekend said the United States would “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz is not reopened by Monday evening. Iran, in response, said if Trump makes good on his threats, it would completely close the Strait of Hormuz and will not reopen it until any destroyed power plants are rebuilt…
Gas Prices Have Jumped More Than 30% in Some States in Two Weeks
Across the South and Southwest, where price hikes have been the most severe, drivers have lamented how the increased costs have cut into their budgets…
Iran war leaves US oil and gas dealmaking ‘in paralysis’
The Iran war has brought US oil and gas dealmaking to a standstill after a strong start to the year as volatile crude prices make it difficult to price transactions…
Iranian Missile Strikes Are Costing Big Oil Billions in Lost Revenue
The Middle East projects have generated hefty profits for the companies, but also left them more exposed to the region’s geopolitical conflicts. Escalating attacks on Persian Gulf oil-and-gas infrastructure last week marked a new phase of the war that threatens to worsen the crisis over energy supplies.
Now, the companies are facing disruptions that could last for years. Iran’s attacks on Qatar’s gas operations are particularly worrying for the global economy because of the country’s role as the world’s second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Western companies are betting that global consumption of the fuel will rise for decades even as economies try to wean themselves off other fossil fuels…
Private jets face $50,000 ‘war risk’ insurance costs to land in Gulf
Private jet operators are being charged as much as $50,000 in “war risk” insurance costs to land in the Middle East, charges that can sometimes double the price of chartering a plane into the region.
In some cases, jet operators are refuelling outside the region to cut insurance costs by minimising their time spent on the ground in the Gulf, brokers and operators said…
Why Iran does not appear ready to give in, despite heavy losses
Tehran’s unwillingness to capitulate as the war enters its fourth week is wrapped up in the power it exerts over the Strait of Hormuz, officials in the region say…
‘Nobody else is responsible’: Trump to blame for Iran crisis, ex-CIA chief says
Panetta, who served in the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations, recalled that national security officials were always keenly aware of Iran’s ability to create an energy crisis by blocking the strait of Hormuz. That very scenario is now unfolding, leaving Trump with no exit strategy beyond wishful thinking.
“He tends to be naive about how things can happen,” Panetta, 87, who supervised the operation to find and kill Osama bin Laden, said by phone. “If he says it and keeps saying it there’s always a hope that what he says will come true. But that’s what kids do. It’s not what presidents do.”…
Israel’s Missile Defense Under Scrutiny After Iranian Attack
As alarming, perhaps, as the damage was the military’s admission that it had tried to intercept the missiles, which struck about three hours apart. The failures raised discomfiting questions about Israel’s multilayered missile defense system and its ability to protect its citizens.
And it renewed concerns that the military might be holding back on firing its most costly and sophisticated missiles, after reports that its stockpiles might have been drained in the 12-day war with Iran last year. Those concerns may deepen further in coming weeks if the current campaign against Iran is only “midway,” as Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the Israeli military’s chief of staff, said on Saturday…
Goldman Sachs Raises Oil Forecasts on Largest-Ever Supply Shock
Brent is expected to average $85 a barrel in 2026, up from an earlier forecast of $77, analysts including Daan Struyven said in a note. The full-year outlook for West Texas Intermediate was hiked to $79 from $72, they said…
The Saudi Oil Pipeline the World Didn’t Know It Needed
Saudi Arabia had prepared and planned for the worst-case scenario for decades. So within hours of the first US and Israeli strikes on Iran which resulted in the effective closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz waterway, the world’s biggest crude exporter rolled out a contingency plan — one that had waited 45 years to come to fruition — to keep its oil flowing…
China touts itself as ‘harbour of stability’ to global CEOs
China sought to woo global chief executives including Apple’s Tim Cook, UBS’s Sergio Ermotti and HSBC’s Georges Elhedery in Beijing on Sunday, touting the country’s safety and reliability in stark contrast to a US bogged down in war with Iran.
Premier Li Qiang told more than 70 chief executives gathered in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse for the government’s annual Davos-style forum that the world’s second-largest economy offered an unmatched supply chain and a predictable commercial environment…
Israel Thought It Could Spur Rebellion Inside Iran. That Hasn’t Happened.
Mr. Netanyahu adopted the plan. Despite doubts about its viability among senior American officials and some officials in other Israeli intelligence agencies, both he and President Trump seemed to embrace an optimistic outlook. Killing Iran’s leaders at the outset of the conflict, followed by a series of intelligence operations intended to encourage regime change, they thought, could lead to a mass uprising that might bring about a swift end to the war…
More:
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How Trump’s attack on Iran risks dragging US into Middle East ‘quagmire’